Is It Too Late For The “Divas Revolution” To Succeed In The WWE?

Nikki Bella (WWE.com)

While this past Saturday’s NXT Takeover event in Brooklyn was arguably the best event the brand has put on in its history, the standout match was the co-main event. In a match that many, including myself, should be put in the conversation as a Match of the Year candidate, Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to win the NXT Women’s Championship. While NXT and their women’s division are flourishing, it seems that the main roster and its division are somewhat in limbo.

For years the WWE and the Divas has been one of the more disappointing aspects of their shows. Gone are the days of Lita and Trish Stratus being the showcase match on Monday Night Raw. What has happened in the last five to seven years is a stop and start focus on the division as a whole. When it seems that the company is ready to start moving towards showcasing the division seriously, they stop and then we would have the WWE Diva Search contest. When you have Michelle McCool and Layla running the division and needing legit competition in the ring, you see fat jokes about Mickie James. Self inflicted wounds were the norm by the WWE when it came to their women’s division.

In recent years, NXT has become the proving ground for the new divas in the WWE. Instead of looking for hot fitness models with no wrestling experience, the search began for women wrestlers from around the world to come in and change the perception of women’s wrestling in the WWE. Led by Triple H, NXT and their women’s division began making noise within the wrestling community. Names like Paige, Becky Lynch, Emma, Banks, Bayley and Charlotte all have built the division into what it today. The company even hired one of the best woman wrestlers in the world Sara Del Ray as trainer for the women in NXT. For many of their weekly shows and specials, the women’s matches are always the highlight matches consistently.

Last month, the WWE made the decision to bring up Charlotte, Lynch and Banks to the main roster. Three stables were created with the divas to increase competition and start a “Divas Revolution” on Raw and SmackDown. Now NXT fans were extremely happy with the move and for good reason. It has been a running joke for years that when a Divas match comes up, you go to the bathroom or make a phone call. The call-up of those three meant that matches would become light years better and people would care about them.

While NXT fans were ecstatic, the problem is that WWE fans in the arenas have been predisposed to very crappy divas matches. Excluding matches between AJ Lee and Paige, the last year and a half has been brutal for the division. Fans are still treating the division with no respect and that’s because the WWE hasn’t treated it with respect for years.

During Raw on Monday in a match between Team Bella and P.C.B., the crowd began chanting for other wrestlers and even doing the wave during the match. While many of the divas involved in the match were not happy with the fans afterward, you can’t blame the fans. Years and years of three minute Divas matches and the total lack of care showed towards the division and the fans are apathetic about the division. It also doesn’t help that your Divas Champion is Nikki Bella…someone who no one would call a mat technician ever.

Nikki Bella won the Divas Championship in November over Paige and has held the title since then. All indications have Nikki holding onto the belt in order to break the recently retired AJ Lee’s all-time record of 295 days with the title. She is at 275 days but as only defended the title eight times in that span of time. In the last couple of days some outlets are reporting that Nikki Bella was actually supposed to lose the Divas Title but that idea was nixed. Here is the story per WrestleZone:

“According to several sources in WWE, the original plan for WWE’s “Divas Revolution” called for Charlotte to win the title from Nikki Bella almost immediately upon arrival, and for Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch to dominate the incumbents. But John Cena, acting on behalf of girlfriend Nikki Bella, went to Vince McMahon and had that squashed.”

So instead of going full bore into a new era of the Divas division, the WWE just stayed pat and now the goodwill that the fans had at the beginning of the “Divas Revolution” is now gone. Is it too late for the Divas division to make a difference? It’s never too late but time is running out. While in the women in NXT are having great matches (except Dana Brooke), on the main rooster they are limited to nine-diva matches, which does nothing to create a star for the future. This is a bigger issue in the context of the WWE creating new stars but that is another story for a different day.

The urgency to make the Divas division better is even more apparent after the comments of former WWE and WCW wrestler Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. In an interview with The View podcast, Valentine stated he is not a fan of women’s wrestling. Here are some of the highlights from Valentine’s interview:

“As far as girl wrestling, I would sent them all out to the strip bar and fire ‘em.”

“I’d fire every girl wrestler I ever saw. They don’t draw any money, they have horrible matches…they’re terrible. That’s they way I feel.”

“They take away jobs from men that need to support their families. They should be home washing dishes and cooking and pregnant and barefoot.”

“I love women…but they gotta realize their place. They’re not supposed to be wrestlers. They’re not supposed to be MMA fighters or boxers. It’s bullsh*t.”

This is not to say that Greg “The Hammer” Valentine’s opinion means anything as a 60-year old, out of touch white man wrestler but if he or many other old wrestlers saw consistent great matches every week from the women of the WWE, those views could change. But in the end, he stinks.

The Divas division will continue to flounder as long as they are not given the right platform to perform and become household names. That platform is not Total Divas and that show is not creating stars but instead making the division look like a joke. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are huge advocates of the divas division and they see the future of what could be. Unfortunately Vince McMahon and WWE producer Kevin Dunn are still the final decision makers and they both still sees hot models with no experience as the future (see Eva Marie). The groundwork has been laid and it’s up to the future decision makers to convince the old men that the future is now for the Divas and begin the change to intense, meaningful in-ring action. It’s time.